KERRIN McEvoy has described Qewy as a genuine Melbourne Cup chance after the Godolphin raider’s grinding Geelong Cup (2400m) victory.

Backed minutes before his Australian debut to win the Melbourne Cup — TAB reported a $4000 wager at $51 — the former hurdler justified the confidence with a courageous win.

McEvoy, who won the Melbourne Cup on Brew in 2000, cannot take the Cup ride on Qewy because of a commitment to Lloyd Williams’ Almandin.

If Godolphin secures starts with Qewy and Oceanographer, third on Wednesday, it will consider approaches from jockeys including 2015 Cup winner Michelle Payne, Craig Williams and Craig Newitt. Both horses have 50kg in the Cup.

Racing Victoria’s general manager of racing Greg Carpenter said Qewy had passed the crucial first ballot clause after staving off fellow imports Grey Lion and Oceanographer on Wednesday.

The win lifted Qewy to No.32 in the order of entry (see below) and a re-handicap on Thursday could elevate him as high as No.28 — with as many as six horses above in the order either ruled out of, or doubtful for, the Cup.

And the tough staying performance prompted McEvoy to rate Qewy as a “good each-way chance” in the Cup after a tough front-running performance in a proven Flemington prelude.

“When I asked him, away he went. Full credit to the horse,” McEvoy said. “He lacks a quick change of gears, but he’s very genuine and he just keeps picking up and that’s all you can ask.’’

Qewy firmed from $51 to $21 after his Geelong Cup win on Wednesday.Source:Getty Images

Trained by Charlie Appleby, Qewy and Oceanographer’s performances followed the excellent Caulfield Cup second of Scottish last Saturday.

Appleby will start Second Wave in the Moonee Valley Cup this weekend and Francis Of Assisi in next week’s Bendigo Cup, hopeful of pushing the pair into Melbourne Cup contention.

Qewy will attempt to follow in the paths of fellow imports Media Puzzle (2002), Americain (2010) and Dunaden (2011), who all won the Geelong Cup before winning the Melbourne Cup.

McEvoy previously won the Geelong Cup on Zazzman (2003) and On A Jeune (’05).

Qewy shortened to $21 in Cup markets, while Grey Lion — beaten a long head after an epic battle — trimmed from $26-$21.

Waller had planned to accept with Grand Marshal, but the stable mistakenly accepted with Who Shot The Barman who was the top weight with 59.5kg.

After realising the mistake, Waller scratched Who Shot Thebarman but it was too late to have Grand Marshal included in the field.

GEELONG CLASSIC

Captain salutes on road to Derby

Daryl Timms

THE Phillip Stokes-trained Captain Duffy had his odds slashed from $101 to $13 for the Victoria Derby after a gutsy win in the $120,000 Geelong Classic (2200m).

The home bred colt was a pick-up ride for Noel Callow after Craig Williams was outed for careless riding at Caulfield last Saturday.

Callow was second in line for the pick-up ride, but next choice Luke Nolen was committed to ride Stuart Webb’s Back To The Bowler. Captain Duffy ($21) scored by 1¼ lengths from Hollywood Mo ($19), with Pretty Punk ($4.40) in third.

The general manager for Ultra Racing, Toby Koenig, said the colt was home bred by stallion King Cugat and out of a home bred mare, Miss Encosta.

“He was home broken too,” Koenig, who is vet, said. “King Cugat only gets about 10 mares a year and always produces a winner and probably deserves a few more than he gets.”

Going into the race with just one victory from a maiden, Koenig said it was always the plan to go forward on the big colt. Koenig said that as a three-year-old Captain Duffy always profiled as a horse that would get over the Derby distance of 2500m.

“He has shown today that he can get over 2000m and beyond,” he said. “We needed to see a good performance today to press onto the Derby, otherwise we were probably going to look at easier options in South Australia but after that, we’ll look at the Derby now.”

Koenig said he would now leave it up to Stokes, who is now training at Caulfield as well as keeping his South Australian base, and owner Sean Buckley if Callow retained the ride.

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